The second round of the 2026 Motocross World Champs saw the series ignite in Europe for the first time, and the local Spanish fans filled the revamped facility of the Circuito di Motocross di Almonte.
After rain hit the track earlier in the week, Sunday’s weather was dry and overcast, giving near enough perfect conditions for both racers and spectators, who created an incredible atmosphere.
One rider completely dominated the event in MXGP, as Lucas Coenen went 1-1-1 across the weekend to take his 17th career Grand Prix victory, his seventh in the premier class, and he now leads the Championship for the first time in his career.
Dutchman Jeffery Herlings gave chase all day to claim a brace of seconds for Honda HRC Petronas, while Slovenia’s Tim Gajser moved forward through both races to take his first podium finish for his new team Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.
In MX2, history was made for the Triumph Racing Factory Team by South African Camden McLellan, who took the first ever Grand Prix victory for both himself and the British manufacturer in its current form.
His team-mate, Guillem Farresm had delighted his home crowd with a great win in race one, but was prevented from challenging for the overall at the start of race two.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Simon Längenfelder and Sacha Coenen rounded out the podium, but McLellan will attach his, and Triumph’s, first ever red plate to his machine as they head to round three in Switzerland.
With a raucous atmosphere and a surprisingly challenging circuit, the inaugural event at Almonte was a memorable occasion for spectators and competitors alike as MXGP launched into its European season in style.
Right until the end of the MXGP Warm-Up, it looked like Herlings had kept his perfect record for the season of the fastest time in every session, until the very closing seconds of the session when a shock lap from Alberto Forato put him to the top of the timesheets for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP by four-tenths of a second.
Gajser was third behind Herlings, while Forato’s team-mate Brent van Doninck took fourth.
As the pack tore into first corner of race one, Tom Vialle took his first holeshot in the MXGP class for Honda HRC Petronas, while his team-mate Herlings survived a flirtation with the outside of the circuit and rounded turn two in third position behind the Frenchman and qualifying race winner Coenen.
Andrea Adamo snapped his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine into fourth ahead of defending world champion Romain Febvre for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.
Behind them, there was a pile-up on the exit of turn one as Calvin Vlaanderen tangled with Gajser, putting the Red Bull Ducati Factory MX Team rider on the ground and collecting the MRT Racing Team Beta of Jago Geerts, plus Honda HRC Petronas’ home hero Ruben Fernandez, to the anguish of the crowd.
Frenchman Tom Vialle held on to lead into the first full lap, under pressure from Coenen and Herlings.
Then the trio hit the wave section almost bar-to-bar-to-bar, the Belgian using a fast outside line to dive into the lead, but Herlings was frustrated in his first effort to get past his team-mate. He had to wait for another full lap to make the move, by which time Coenen had already started to get the hammer down.
Maxime Renaux was ahead of his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team-mate Gajser outside the top five, with Kay de Wolf in eighth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
Coenen hit his top pace with a blazing Acerbis Fastest Lap of the whole day on lap four of the race, rapidly extending his lead but never looking like he was pushing too hard, too soon.
Renaux started to move up the order, passing Adamo at the end of the longest jump section on lap seven, and as he started to look interested in the next spot, Febvre passed Vialle for third with a big double jump that only the 450cc machines could attempt, right in front of the packed grandstands.
Renaux was able to get up to fourth with three laps to go, a confidence-boosting ride for the Yamaha man.
Gajser also got past Adamo over a big tabletop jump on lap 15, leaving the Italian in seventh, while Ben Watson claimed his best MXGP result in Spain with a solid ride to eighth for Dirt Store Triumph Racing.
Mattia Guadagnini took ninth for Venrooy KTM, and De Wolf faded to tenth in his first race back from injury.
Coenen took his 38th GP race win by over 20 seconds, and left his competition scratching their heads as he also took the Championship lead from Vialle.
Straight out of the gate in the second race, Watson’s good weekend took an unfortunate turn as he clashed with Herlings and hit the floor.
Flashing round the outside was his domestic Championship rival Oriol Oliver, taking his first holeshot in MXGP for Gabriel SS24 KTM to the roar of his countrymen in the crowd.
The two Red Bull KTMs of Adamo and Coenen were in his wake, and this time Vlaanderen started will in fourth, although he was passed by Herlings for that spot after a third of a lap.
Before they crossed the finish line for the first time, both Coenen and Herlings had got past Adamo, then in successive laps the top two blitzed past the Spaniard through the waves, as Herlings tried grimly to hang on to the pace of the teenager.
Even a momentary stall for Lucas didn’t give his rivals any hope, and while Herlings kept the gap to a slightly lower 12 seconds at the close, it was still a dominant performance for Coenen.
Febvre got up to third by lap five, but Gajser looked to have found more speed and was closing on his long-time rival. On a fast right-hand corner the Frenchman got crossed up and went down hard, unable to get upright for several minutes and was helped off the circuit, not looking seriously hurt but too far down to contemplate returning to action.
It was his first non-score in a full GP race since July 2024.
Behind Gajser, Adamo took a season-best fourth, and Vlaanderen a fine fifth after passing Vialle.
Renaux also passed his fellow Frenchman for the second time in the GP, giving him sixth in the race and fourth in the GP behind his team-mate Gajser.
Adamo was fifth overall ahead of Vialle and De Wolf, who improved to a steady eighth in race two.
Pauls Jonass, a non-scorer after a crash in race one, took ninth in the second outing ahead of Forato. The Italian took tenth overall behind Vlaanderen.
Febvre’s single result was still enough for eighth overall.
Fernandez had a better second race, still feeling unwell but struggling to eleventh in both race two and the overall, and the fast-starting Oliver ended the race in twelfth.
For the first time ever, Lucas Coenen was presented with a red plate on a GP podium.
He had worn a red plate after the first MX2 qualifying race of 2024, but swiftly lost it with a crash that day.
He now leads the series by eight points over Herlings, with Vialle another five further back. Febvre remains in fourth, level with Renaux and with Gajser just one point behind.
There is still everything to play for, but Coenen’s sheer pace on the tough Spanish track will worry his rivals, and we now head to the track where he took his first victory in the class less than twelve months ago.
Will he go on a rampage, or will his many titled rivals step up to the plate? Find out next weekend.
RESULTS & STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34:53.443; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:20.573; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.005; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:49.453; 5. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:51.172; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:53.074; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:58.340; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:00.206; 9. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), +1:09.054; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +1:16.376.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:20.181; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:12.803; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:24.976; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:49.029; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +0:55.391; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:58.674; 7. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +1:00.483; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +1:01.485; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:03.193; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, Fantic), +1:04.636.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 44 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 35 p.; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 30 p.; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 24 p.; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 20 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 19 p.; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, FAN), 19 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 102 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 94 p.; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 89 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 75 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 75 p.; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 74 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 69 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 51 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 49 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 40 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 33:54.093; 2. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:01.623; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:11.796; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.990; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:27.569; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:30.409; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:42.848; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:55.174; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:14.100; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:17.666.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), 34:05.274; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:04.560; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:11.209; 4. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:16.718; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.328; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:35.989; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:42.479; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:43.754; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:01.319; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:11.791.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 47 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 33 p.; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 31 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 25 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 23 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 99 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 97 p.; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 80 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 78 p.; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 76 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 76 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 74 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 57 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 48 p.; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 40 p.
Photo courtesy Infront Moto Racing
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